Commutation-ticket.



R. BORGFELDT.

COMMUTATION TICKET.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.24, |914.

1,159,642'. Patented Nov. 9, 1915.

e t: Inventor.' o@ M by /lcf/HRD HoRc-/-ELUT :.uLunIBIA PLANCIURAPH C0., WASHINGTON. b. c.

UNITED sTATE's `PATENT oEEicE- RGHAED EO'RGFELDT, or MET'UCHEN, NEW JERSEY, AssIGnoE 0E cnn-HALE To HERBEE'Iv G. LATIMEE, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK. Y

COMMUTATIONLTCKET. Y

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 24, 1914. Serial No. 863,319. 'k

T O CLZZ 'whom t may concern Y l Be it known that L'Ricrnxizn BORGEELDT,

a citizen of the United Statesof America,

My invention relates to commutation' tickets andthe object of my invention is to provide a railroad ticket of this type which will prevent certain abuses to which the use of tickets of this character has commonly been subject.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures l and 2 areV plan views of commutation tickets in which my invention is embodied in different forms; and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic plan of a railroad.

Commutation tickets as now commonly printed bear punch boxes consecutively. numbered and entitling the holder thereof to continuous rides in either direction between the points named on the ticket. One of the express conditions of a commutation ticket is that it shall be used for a continuous ride between the points specified thereon, ex-L cept in the event that the train boarded by the owner of the ticket does not travel the full distance called for by the ticket, in which event the holder of the ticket is entitled to complete the journey by boarding the next connecting train. It has been the common practice of the railroads however to issue commutation tickets on which the size of the punch boxes is so small that they will accommodate but a single punch to theV box, and the conductor is instructed to punch a box immediately the train leaves the terminus A or C between which the ticket is issued. As a result of this practice, a degree of uncertainty and looseness of requirements has crept in, which has become the occasion of various abuses of the commutation ticket and results in serious losses to the railroads. Perhaps the most serious loss is occasioned by the use of commutation tickets by drummers having business at various stations along the line. Such a drummer boarding an accommodation train say at A, has his ticket punched and gets oit at the first station 1., After doing an hours business here, he boards the next accominodation train and rides to station 2, later to 3, and so on. When approached by the conductor after boarding thetrain, say at station 2, he states that he poseV sesses a commutation ticket' which has already been punched, and the conductor is commonly satislied with this. If the con; ductor however demands inspection of the ticket and discovers that the alleged punch is not his own, he commonly punches an` other cox. The conductor has however per' mittedthe use of the ticket notV only for travel initiated at a way station but also for travel between way stations, both of whichl uses are outside the conditions of the contract under which the ticket is sold. Again, since the punch box bears no indication of the direction in which theV journey is initiated, it is possible to travel say'from A to B, where the train stops. It is possible to return laterto A from B on a train V'starting at B and connecting with a train from C which stops at B and with which it is destined to make connection. If the ticket isV presented, unscrupulously, as a continuation of a journey initiated at C, it enables the user to travel back from B to A on the same punch box as that onV Which he traveled earlier in the day from A to B. As. has been stated however, a commutation ticket is issued, and at a reduced rate, only for a continuous ride between the points specified. lt can not properly be presented for a stage by stage journey between the stations named,

and in fact cannot properly be presentedk for transportation on a trip initiated at an intermediate point. Obviously it cannot properly be presented for a journey both to and from an intermediate station.

To remedy the abuses noted and other inisuses of the ticket, I now provide a commutation ticket with punch boxes of suilicient size to permit the conductor of a connccting train (as from B to C) to punch in' the same box with the conductor of the train boarded for the first portion of the journey from A to B. I also print in the punch boxes insignia to indicate the direction of travel in which the journey is initiated. Furthermore, each punch box is provided with a serial number.

The tickets shown in the accompanying drawing embody my invention in two forms. Thus the ticket of Fig. l, has at its head, the usual space 5 for the name of the issuing railroad, the points for travel between which the ticket .is issued, and the period during Patented Nov. 1915. v

lOCI

which it is to be accepted; the box 6 for the dating stamp and the box 7 for the notice that the ticket is subject to the terms of contract printed on the back; while the large area on the lower portion of the ticket is divided into a series of punch boxes 8 for cancellation by the conductor. Each of these punch boxes is sufficiently large to accommodate two punches and in each box above and below its numeral 9 are printed insignia 10 such as the letters E. and W. or N. and S. to indicate the direction of travel.

If the commuter boards at A a train which travels through to C, even though it makes intermediate stops, the conductor will at once punch its numeral 9, thereby denoting that the box is exhausted since the holder has had the opportunity for the through travel between A and C for which the ticket is issued. It cannot be offered at 1, 2 or B for a continuation of a journey unwarrantably interrupted by the holder of the ticket.

.if the commuter boards a train going only as far asB, the conductor punches one Vof the insignia 10 to indicate the direction in which the journey is initiated e. g., east. Obviously it will not be accepted by the conductor of another train for a return journey west from B, since this box .is good only for a completion of the journey already initiated in the opposite direction.

In each of the above cases the second conductor is entitled to collect fare from the holder of the ticket, from the point at which the train is boarded to the destination, since the ticket is issued only for a continuous journey between the points mentioned in the ticket. The passenger is not entitled at any time to board the train at an intermediate station and present the ticket for a ride from such station say from 2 to C. The ticket must be presented at A for a continuous ride to C; or at C for a continuous ride to A, with the sole exception of ltrains going no farther than B, and in such case only on the next connecting train. If the conductor of the connecting train at B is familiar with the punch of the conductor of the preceding train stopping at B, he can readily observe whether or not the passenger who presents for further travel a partially punced box, has traveled on the next preceding train or on some earlier train and should have gone forward by an earlier connecting train. 1f the latter is the case, the conductor is entitled to collect fare from the passenger.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the practice of drummers heretofore mentioned of journeying by stages between the points specified in the ticket is readily checked by the use of a ticket of the character described, since the presentation of a ticket having its serial number punched indicates that the journey has been begun on a through train and the stop-over was unwarranted, while the presentation of a ticket.

ranged in a single series of sixty, as is the-` usual forin for a monthly ticket, the form shown in F ig. 2 has the boxes arranged in a double series of thirty each, corresponding to the days of the month., and preferably symmetrically arranged with relation to each other. Each box has a direction indication, but in a single direction only. Consequently the conductor may punch only that boxv which corresponds to theday of the month: on which the trip is made and will punch one box for the journey in one direction, and the other box for the journey in the opposite direction. For a journey initiated on a train going only as far as B from either A or C, the conductor punches in the appropriate box the insignia 10 designating the direction of travel, and the ticket can obviously be presented for continued travel only on the saine date on which it is initiated since the punch box in question shows its use on that date. lt is one of the privileges attaching to a commutation ticket, however, that the holder may .ride more than once in a single day between the points speciiied in the ticket. To provide for this contingency, the ticket may have two or more of its rows of boxes provided with stars 11, one of the rows for travel in one direction and one for travel in the opposite direction. In case the conimutei has exhausted the boxes designated for the date in question, say, box 2; ybut again wishes to make the round trip on thatI date, the conductor now punches in one of the boxes containing the star 11. By punching the star he indicates that there has been no ride on the date to which the canceled star box corresponds, but that the ride has been taken on some other date as an extra on that date. Consequently, on the date of the canceled star box he may punch any box on the ticket which remains uncanceled.

The particular forms of ticket may be varied in accordance with the particular demands of the railroad using the same, and that shown is merely an exemplification of my invention.. lThus the invention may be applied to a family ticket of the fifty,

twenty-ive or ten ride type and in the following claims the expression commutation ticket is used in a sense broad enough to cover this type of ticket also. By reason of the higher rate at which it is sold, the family ticket is privileged for travel between way stations-a new punch box being canceled each time the train is boarded. The railroad loses nothing by this, since the price of the ticket is such that the value of each punch box is greater' than the ordinary fare between any of the Way stations. By reason of the fact however, that each punch box contains a direction indication it will be impossible for the holder of a ticket of this type to ride say from A to B, and after doing business return from B to A on the same punch box, as is now frequent practice. The conductor on the train from A to B punches the direction indicia 10, so that the conductor of the later return train from B to A sees at a glance that the journey was initiated in the opposite direction and con sequently punches an additional punch box.

I claim as my invention l. A commutation ticket having a series of punch boxes thereon, said ticket having printed matter entitling the owner to continuous rides between specified points, and said punch boxes having traveldirection ined to be punched by the conductor of aV through train and each punch box having, also, direction indication adapted to be punched by the conductor of a way train, said boxes being of sufficient size to receive a plurality of punches, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of Y two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD BORGFELDT.

Witnesses:

RoDNEY L. MARGHANT, WILLIAM ABBE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

